You are here

Get to know each other!

My name is Brenda and I have been a Dream Theater fan for about 3 years. My first album was Black Clouds and Silver Linings. My (stupid) ex BF showed me Dream Theater. I guess it was the only good thing that came out of that relationship lol.

My name is Brenda and I have been a Dream Theater fan for about 3 years. My first album was Black Clouds and Silver Linings. My (stupid) ex BF showed me Dream Theater. I guess it was the only good thing that came out of that relationship lol.

My name is Charlie, I'm 47 years old, and been on board since "Images and Words". The first show I went to was in Chicago when they played the entire "Master of Puppets" album. DT is the perfect band in my opinion, when I need inspiration I got songs, when I need to bang my head I got songs, when I want to relax and enjoy beautiful music I have songs. I grew up on KISS, Rush, Journey, and Iron Maiden...DT is like all those bands in one for me.

Hello all. I'm a 45 y/o relative newbie to DT. I heard Pull me Under back in the early 90's, liked it, but made the mistaken assumption of thinking DT was a one-hit-wonder group. I had this "rule" about not buying a CD until I heard at least two or three songs I really liked, and since no mainstream radio station would play them due to song lengths, I whiffed!

Fast-forward to three years ago, my then 18 y/o son pulled I&W up on his iPod during a trip and, lo-and-behold, I know this song! We listened to the whole album on the drive and I needed to hear more. Scenes from a Memory was my first purchased CD and I was officially hooked. What a waste of 15 years though!...to think of the concerts I could've seen, the eager anticipation of each new album and the belonging to a community of people sharing a deep love for this beautiful music!

So here I am, having seen my first show in Boston last month and trying to make up for lost time. Their music touches me deeply. As someone previously mentioned, they're the soundtrack of my life! They're muses! They've inspired me to pick up my son's bass and guitar and start playing again for the first time since college. I'm WAY rusty, but not for long!

[quote=Tony Sarrio]My name is Tony Sarrio, I have been a fan for over 20 years. I first met the band when i worked at Hammerjacks a very long time ago. I am having a very serious high risk surgery Wed. Oct.26 and i had to see you guys. This was my one wish before the operation and it was a great wish!! [/quote]

Hey, I'm Angie. 'Been a fan since July '92. I'm younger than Jordan, Mike M and James, older than John P and John M so I consider myself to be within the age-group ;)
I was a member of the DT.net message board, went to the meet-up at The Twins Pub before the Radio City Music Hall show in '06, edited and produced The Great Meet-up video.I am also featured ( in a blurry nano-second) in the Chaos In Motion video--caught me standing in line at the band signing in Long Island before the Jones Beach show in '07....
[code]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i268/Volume92/0007dtsigningliny.jpg[/c... [/quote]

I was at that signing too :). Showed up a little late though. I got some pretty surprised reactions from the band members with the stuff I brought to get signed.

For MP and the Johns I brought the original cassette test pressing of the Majesty Demo... (MP: "I probably listened to this exact tape 20 years ago")

For Jordan I brought a program from the 1994 Foundations Forum show (Jordan's first show w/ DT) (JR: "I've never seen one of these before in my life")

And for James I brought an old Richard Chycki demo cassette (JLB: "What the fuck is this? I didn't even know this existed!")

What was your screenname on dt.net?[/quote]

My screenname there was Volume92. (there's a Spinal Tap joke in there, somewhere.. :p ) I'm pretty sure you were hanging out with the same people I was at the Jones Beach Tailgate...I was walking around, video taping some people in the parking lot & asked you how I could get a "Turtle t-shirt".
I've seen parts of your Outrageous DT collection in pics and your band quotes are not at all suprising- but Very Funny! I think we were pretty fortunate to have been there that day. Didn't that place burn down a few days later?

My name is Tony Sarrio, I have been a fan for over 20 years. I first met the band when i worked at Hammerjacks a very long time ago. I just whent to see you guys at the Warner Theater in DC. The show was excellent as always. I am having a very serious high risk surgery Wed. Oct.26 and i had to see you guys. This was my one wish before the operation and it was a great wish!! I hope you guys are around for many years to come so the young musicians can have a chance to experience true musicianship!! Rock on!!!

My name's Andreas and I'm from Stockholm, Sweden. I'm 29 years old and I've been a fan since [i]Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence[/i]. That was when I first heard about Dream Theater and [i]Blind Faith[/i] became my favorite song on the record (it has to be one of their most underrated songs by the way). I would listen to everything Dream Theater released but it wasn't until somewhere between [i]Systematic Chaos[/i] and [i]Black Clouds & Silver Linings[/i] that I [i]really[/i] started listening to the older material and it was at this point that I went from just thinking that it was my favorite band to actually falling in love with the entire spectrum of songs and all musical aspects of the band.

Music is a very big part of my life. I studied music (majoring in singing) for 9 years and I've been singing for 15 years but I never played any instruments which is something I regret today. Or well, I did spend a few years playing my western concert flute so I guess I could always play along to [i]Octavarium[/i] (which just so happens to be my favorite song) but in hindsight I wish that I had picked the guitar or the piano instead. :3

My name's Pete and I'm from England. Been a follower of Dream Theater since the early nineties when I saw them on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. They had a lot of similar interests to music I was into, and so it developed from there. What I like most about them is the fact that they're not limited to one style of music but use styles to create different textures.

I'm also a musician. My main instruments are guitar (classical, flamenco and electric) and the violin.

Hello!My name is Nikos,i am from Greece and i am DT fan from 1995.I saw DT play live 7 times and for sure their music is the soundtrack of my life.
I found out about them when a friend of mine told me i had to check out this band,he recommended me to buy Images and Words.I bought it a before even Take The Time ends i declared to myself that they are my favorite band and they indeed are my favorite band.

My name is Bryan and im 22 years old. I've been playing bass since i was about 14 years old. I heard about dream theater in 2004 when i was 15 through a friend of mine on xbox live playing halo 2 lol. my friend who had told me about them plays the drums and he just told me i had to check this band out because mike portnoy was his favorite drummer. so i look them up and the glass prison was the most downloaded song at the time so i decided to give it a go... I was blown away by not only the drumming but everything as a whole. I became obsessed with dream theater and bought every single cd/dvd available. I even got the majesty logo tattood on my arm!

I still thank my friend every now and then for showing me that this kind of music exists. It introduced me to so many new bands such as opeth, porcupine tree, pain of salvation and many others. I really think it all has changed me as not only a musician but as a person as well.

Hey, I'm Angie. 'Been a fan since July '92. I'm younger than Jordan, Mike M and James, older than John P and John M so I consider myself to be within the age-group ;)
I was a member of the DT.net message board, went to the meet-up at The Twins Pub before the Radio City Music Hall show in '06, edited and produced The Great Meet-up video.I am also featured ( in a blurry nano-second) in the Chaos In Motion video--caught me standing in line at the band signing in Long Island before the Jones Beach show in '07....
[code]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i268/Volume92/0007dtsigningliny.jpg[/c... [/quote]

I was at that signing too :). Showed up a little late though. I got some pretty surprised reactions from the band members with the stuff I brought to get signed.

For MP and the Johns I brought the original cassette test pressing of the Majesty Demo... (MP: "I probably listened to this exact tape 20 years ago")

For Jordan I brought a program from the 1994 Foundations Forum show (Jordan's first show w/ DT) (JR: "I've never seen one of these before in my life")

And for James I brought an old Richard Chycki demo cassette (JLB: "What the fuck is this? I didn't even know this existed!")

I'm Dave. Been a musician for about 25 years. Started playing music when I was about 15/16. Got into Van Halen and Joe Satriani first. Then got into the more fusion esque stuff of Steve Morse/ Dixie Dregs and then it blew up from there. Now, I am a major DT and Dweezil-Frank Zappa fanatic ( just got Joe's Menage--GREAT disc!!! ). But I really like all kinds of music. As long as the musicians are having a great time, then I'll check it out. My philosophy is that life too short to stick with one decision. Love it all.

I'm Jake and I live in Vegas. Been a fan since Six Degrees came out and haven't stopped listening to them since. I'm 28 and a single father. I first heard Dream Theater on an internet video as background music someone had chosen for a video game. After that it was love at first listen (first song I heard was The Great Debate).

my name is Leanne. i've been a DT fan for only 2yrs. i saw John Petrucci & Portnoy on the G3 tour in 2006, so before seeing that gig i bought 'Awake' & another DT album but i didn't get their music at the time. when DT announced their aussie tour in 2009 i bought a ticket just to see Petrucci play, not knowing that i would end up actually getting into DT's music :D

another MetallicA fan who has been a DT fan for 20yrs told me to buy BC&SL, he told me it was amazing. i figured i may as well know some of the songs DT are going to play :p i LOVED the album!! so in the few months leading upto DT's show in Perth i bought some other DT albums and went back to listen to Awake.

I hail from a little place called Australia (you may have heard of it :p) and I'm a journalist for a company called The AU Review.

My first Dream Theater album was Train of Thought - at the ripe age of 13, and i've dug them ever since. I'm a guitarist (I'm lil_petrucci on the JP boards) and used to be in a progressive rock band what recently broke up. So now i'm a DJ (I know. weird change)

If you guys want, follow me on twitter at @daveeroberts - and if you want to read my review of the new album jump on the AU Review website - there's the review on there, review of On The Backs of Angels and an interview with Mangini!

So, any other aussies in here?[/quote]

Gday Dave

I'm from a little place called Wollongong.....when we're not under threat of a new grandstand falling down, we listen to DT. :)

Hey, I'm Angie. 'Been a fan since July '92. I'm younger than Jordan, Mike M and James, older than John P and John M so I consider myself to be within the age-group ;)
I was a member of the DT.net message board, went to the meet-up at The Twins Pub before the Radio City Music Hall show in '06, edited and produced The Great Meet-up video.I am also featured ( in a blurry nano-second) in the Chaos In Motion video--caught me standing in line at the band signing in Long Island before the Jones Beach show in '07....
[code]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i268/Volume92/0007dtsigningliny.jpg[/c...

I'm Ted from Minneapolis. I've been a fan of DT since I first heard "Pull Me Under" on Z-Rock (anyone else remember Z-Rock?) way back in late '92. When I first heard it I was just floored and I thought 'this is amazing'. It was like a breath of fresh air. It was most certainly a welcome change from all the "alternacrap" polluting the airwaves during that time.

I love the new album (I'm listening to it as I type this posting) and cannot wait to see the guys again. Hope the next U.S. leg of the current tour hits Minneapolis sometime in 2012.

Well, my turn :)
My name is Eric and I live in France in the town called Annecy with my wife and our two kids.
I've been a DT fan since my brother offered me "a change os season" some years ago and never stopped listening to them since.
I mostly listen metal music, but i also like traditionnal irish music and celtic music. My other hobbies are drawing (traditionnal or CG art with photoshop) and the practice of Aïkido. And if you wonder if I really looks like my avatar, here's a silly picture of me :p

I've been diggin' DT since around '97. I've spent way too much money on concerts.... seen them live 35 times in 7 US states and Canada (including LSFNY, Score, A Sort of Homecoming and Master of Pupppets). Also been to a slew of side project shows and events (e.g., YMC, HotG, Cygnus & the Sea Monsters, Amazing Journey, LTE, Transatlantic, G3, JLB in '05, Derek in '03, the DT induction into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, and the recent Jordan/JLB show with the only ever performance of Space-Dye Vest). I've spent (wasted?) even more money on a fairly ridiculously huge DT collection. I've written some articles for VoicesUK too, so if any of you are fan club members, you may have read about my concert-going experiences in the fanzine.

I heart lots of other bands too. My current obsession is The Dear Hunter. Because they're amazing. And because Casey Crescenzo is basically the most awesomest person alive. On the more prog/metal side, I love Porcupine Tree, Marillion, Rush, Pain of Salvation and pretty much anything Kevin Moore has ever touched. I would probably sell an organ to see Pain of Salvation live. (And another one to see OSI and/or Chroma Key).

When I'm not music-ing, I spend my days earning the money I spend on concerts by being a lawyer. Mostly transactional stuff though. I don't like going to court. I live on Long Island (only a stone's throw away from one of DT's earliest rehearsal spaces). Been here most of my life except for a few years upstate for law school. It's pretty convenient being a DT fan and living on Long Island, since they're kinda biased towards us as it is their home and all.

This is me chilling with the bear-man himself at a local bar/party where Rena's band was playing (and where he jumped up on stage himself for a pretty killer version of "Sweet Emotion").

My name is Barry. I'm a pretty avid fan of Dream Theater, especially their classic albums like "Images & Words" and "Metropolis Part II: Scenes From a Memory" but really dig the new one and think it stands head and shoulders above the last few records.

I am a 47 year old I.T. Department Director and web developer. I am also a musician. I have a collaborative studio-project band called [url=http://www.theanabasisproject.com]The ANABASIS[/url] and it's one of the greatest joys of my life to have been able to have my favorite keyboardist, Ryo Okumoto of Spock's Beard join my band. Our debut album, entitled "Back From Being Gone" will drop in about 2 or 3 weeks. We just signed a multi-record deal with [url=http://www.10trecords.com]10t Records[/url] and I'm actually already working on the follow up. (information about our debut release will probably be posted on the 10t web site in about two weeks). In a very limited release to friends and relatives, the reviews were very encouraging and our music was best described as "Transatlantic with balls."

I've been married for 11 years, I have a 23 year old son who is a Master at Arms in the US Navy and I have two dogs and an African Grey Parrot named Oscar.

My name's Daryl and I live in Vancouver, Canada, been a DT fan for a few years (late-bloomer). Love almost every song they've done, music to my ears. Grew up listening to Iron Maiden, Metallica and Rush, and still enjoy those bands as well. But DT has enthralled me more than any other. Brilliant. Someone mentioned listening to Octavarium on the beach and thus it became their favourite song. My story is similar, in that I recall listening to the song (Octavarium) on a beach in St. Maarten (Caribbean) and it changed my life. I have so much respect for DT, they take their craft very seriously, they're all such amazing players, yet they seem so grounded and don't get caught up in the "rock star" lifestyle. I hope they continue to make superb music for many years to come. Also, I met Mike Portnoy a couple of years ago here in Vancouver, and he was a really nice guy, I was in awe just talking with him. As much as I admire his talent, I must say that I love Mangini with the band. They seem to have new life and the new album reflects that. LOVE the new album.

I'm Lachlan, I live in Canada (but it says that in my side post thing). I'm 16 at the moment, and only been a DT fan for about a year and a half, maybe two years now. My first album was Octavarium, and I heard while at the beach on a beautiful day. Thus why Octavarium remains my favourite song and album.

Aside from DT stuff, I enjoy many other things. Among my other favourite music is more prog stuff like Rush and Genesis, and metal stuff Like Megadeth, Metallica, Death Angel, etc. My five favourite bands are DT, Megadeth, Metallica, Coheed and Cambria, and Breaking Benjamin (doesn't quite fit in, but I love them).

I play guitar, love to build things, be it Lego, model kits, furniture, whatever. Nice to meet you all. =)

It's just my opinion. When is the last time you heard a DT song on the radio? That is what I'm talking about. If there are so many other bands in the US that are in this genre, then by all means introduce me to them.

Not trying to insult anyone.[/quote]

Well, DT isn't music you would hear on the radio, it's just the nature of their music. The problem with your comment was that you said, "The US blows when it comes to playing MUSIC with any talent these days..." when the US is littered with so many talented musicians that never get heard because they are playing small clubs and bars, particularly in the jazz world.

As far as Prog, I agree with the above poster, and would add Fate's Warning, Redemption, OSI, Shadow Gallery, King's X, etc. to that list. And have you heard the new Arch/Matheos that was just released on the same day of the DT release? Omg, it's incredible...and from the US. Can't wait for the new OSI. :)